The convent

Building the Church

Building began on the Church of the Augustines in 1309 and was to last until the beginning of the 16th century. Today the church is a listed historic monument.

In 1317, the architect Jean de Lobres who was working on the construction of Saint Etienne Cathedral, was entrusted with overseeing the building work. It was at that point that it was decided that there would be a single nave with no transept, ending in an apse composed of three rectangular chapels. The church was consecrated on 30th June 1504. By then it possessed seventeen chapels disposed on either side of the nave. In 1341, the church was not yet vaulted. The apse and the four eastern bays of the church had yet to be raised. The springings of the ribbed vaults in the side chapels are adorned with elegant, sculpted bracket corbels (culs-de-lampe) and keystones sculpted with figures. The church also received a painted decor that bears a resemblance to certain paintings from Northern Spain. The elevation of the two western bays would appear to have been modified after the fire of 1463, when the definitive vault was completed. The definitive roofing of the church was entrusted to the masons Martin Pujol and Pierre d'Arroye in 1495. The work was then rapidly carried out and the building was consecrated once more on 30th June 1504. In 1550, lightning struck the belfry, destroying the spire and the upper floors which were never rebuilt.